Great Church

Meaning

Proper Noun

• The orthodox Christian church of antiquity, after 380 the established church of the Roman Empire, especially as distinct from smaller Christian movements or heresies.
• Hagia Sophia before the fall of the Byzantine Empire or one of the churches that previously occupied its site, the Great Church of Constantinople.
• The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Origin

• . In sense of “orthodox Christian church”, cf. Celsus (2nd century) describing mainstream Christian believers, quoted in Origen, Contra Celsum, 5.59: “ ” (“Certainly, the members of the Great Church agree ”).